Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)

The problem is that if one takes the future tense out of the Minister's statement there is very little the Government can say. The Minister has been in government for so long at this stage and these particular problems in planning, judicial reviews and tendering have not appeared out of nothing. They have been as a result of the Government's implementation.

One of the big frustrations that exists among commuters in this country is that, on one level, they are getting the stick of extra costs. Last year, commuters paid €1.9 billion in motor tax and VRT and they contributed €4.1 billion in fuel taxes. Just last week the Government put up the cost of tolls again on an M50 that commuters have paid €2.2 billion for already. Mind you, those two bridges cost €53 million to build in the first place. Those commuters have paid for those bridges over and over again and yet the Government is using this stick on those commuters by putting up that price again instead of using the carrot of providing the necessary public transport they want to be able to use. That is where the major frustration is. On one level, the Government cannot introduce and cannot develop infrastructure because the systems are grinding to a halt with bureaucracy and red tape-----

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